Here’s A Respectable NBA Starting Five For Less Than Arenas’ $22 Million 2013 Salary

Zach Berger

2:10 pm, July 5th, 2013

Gilbert Arenas was once an NBA star for the Washington Wizards. He’s now playing in China and coming off of a few miserable seasons in the NBA, during which he once brought guns to the locker room.

Arenas is still owed money by the Orlando Magic. He’s on the books for $22,346,536 in 2013, the final year that they have to pay him. That makes him the team’s highest-paid player next year and the third highest-paid player in his former league.

So here’s a hypothetical NBA starting five made up of players that are collectively set to earn less than Arenas next year:

That starting five has a combined salary of $22,179,187 for the coming season, around $100k less than the Magic owe Arenas. They amnestied Arenas a couple years ago, so his salary doesn’t count against the cap, but they still have to pay him.

So essentially, Arenas is getting paid to do nothing and drive around with 100 pounds of fireworks in his pickup truck.